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Did you notice the new web site design?
On Monday morning of October 14th (around 3am) I launched
the new version of the OCA web site. You should find the site
is easier to navigate and it has even more content and information
available at your fingertips. We have the students from The
Art Institute of California - Orange County for their dedication
and assistance in making this happen. Full story is available
on the web site.
Unfortunately we did not have any
time at the October meeting for announcements. I know that
Jim Benet was planning to give a short presentation and a
further request to the membership for some new outreach volunteers.
Please consider joining the special group of OCA Members who
volunteer to share their telescopes and their time on the
public outreach events that are organized throughout the month.
You do not have to be a life-time expert at this hobby. The
MOST important attribute is simply your passion for astronomy
and your willingness to share that enthusiasm with the public.
I can say from my own personal experience that it is one of
the most rewarding things to get involved with. Please email
Jim Benet if you want to be added to his list of volunteers
at JimBenet@pacbell.net. You can check out the list of outreach
events on the web site at http://www.ocastronomers.org/about_oca/oca_activities/outreach/
Following on from last months big
news regarding the Kuhn Telescope - thanks to the dedication
of Dave Radosevich we are making very rapid progress on the
repairs. We are looking to possibly have the scope operational
for the December star party.
Those of you who attended the AstroImage
2002 conference in August should have already received your
conference proceedings CD which was shipped out through the
help of the AstroImage 2002 conference committee and especially
Charlie Oostdyk. Thanks go to Dave Kodama for bringing the
CD contents together and creating a truly remarkable resource
for you all to refer to.
If you did not manage to attend the
conference - you can purchase your own copy of the conference
CD for only $15. In addition we have also created a special
CD containing nearly 13 hours of video of the presentations.
Details of course are on the web site.
While the AI 2002 committee were working
together stuffing all the conference proceedings CD into envelopes
- we couldn't help but start talking about AstroImage 2003.
For some reason the bunch of us decided to start planning
for the next year's conference. This year Darren Thibodeau
(our very own Sirius Astronomer Editor) has stepped forward
to take the turn at keeping us all in line as the conference
chairperson. Thanks Darren! Check the web site for more information
on the conference next year.
All this talk about things happening
next year brings up the topic of the OCA board elections for
2003. The nominations for board members will be formally opened
at the November OCA general meeting. Please consider if you
would like to stand for a board position and help the club
with your drive and enthusiastic support of this hobby. Any
member can be nominated for a board position as long as they
are over 18 years of age and have been a member for a year
or more.
Liam Kennedy
"every day we are connecting ever more photons of
light from distant galaxies to the eyes, hearts, minds and
imaginations of our members and others in our community."
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